ACTOR and musician Howard Gay is appearing in pantomime at Harrogate Theatre this Christmas - but you won't see much more than the back of his head.

As musical director of Babes In The Wood, he'll be confined to the orchestra pit, facing the performers, not the audience. "You can only reach the pit by going under the stage and through a little door," he explains.

Harrogate audiences have already seen plenty of him this season in two Shakespeare-based productions. First, there was Tears Of A Clown, a rock 'n' roll musical which transferred the Hamlet story to a circus setting. He acted as MD and was Horace in the world premiere. That was followed by a non-musical Macbeth, in which he played Banquo.

This marks Gay's first time as MD for a traditional pantomime, something he was keen to try. In the past, he's been MD and co-writer of two rock Christmas shows, Puss In Blue Suede Boots and Alice In Boogie Wonderland, at Liverpool Everyman.

"With Babes, they pretty much told me what music they wanted. Then I did the arrangements," he says. "When I've done rock 'n' roll musicals, it's been one kind of music. In traditional pantomime, there's everything from Disney songs to 1920s standards. A real spectrum that really stretches you. And it's not stuff that I've done before."

A look through his theatre credits shows both straight plays and musicals, although he remembers being told, before going to drama school, that he'd have to decide whether he wanted to be an actor or musician. He chose to ignore the advice.

"I went to train as an actor but kept up my interest in music. Versatility is the name of the game. If you can't get an acting job, you can try for a musical one," he says.

His decision has been vindicated by the huge upsurge in demand for multi-talented performers in recent years. Shows such as Return To The Forbidden Planet, in which he appeared at Harrogate, call for actors who can sing and play instruments. Gay plays piano and bass guitar, although for Babes In The Wood he has a synthesiser.

Despite his jack-of-several-trades approach, he still gets pigeonholed by directors. "One sees me as overweight and has me playing fat parts. Another always puts me in slightly older leading man roles," he says.

"You reach a tricky age in your mid-30s when you are not young enough to play leads and not old enough to play dads. It highlights how versatile you need to be these days to keep acting. Casts are getting smaller and there are less plays being produced. If you want to make a career, you have to be an actor and musician."

The role of Banquo in Macbeth required no singing. The character is murdered, only to return as a blood-soaked ghost. "I've done quite a few Shakespeare parts and that was my favourite, no doubt," says Gay. "I was covered in blood. I used to stick my head in a bucket of blood before going on."

He appeared with actress-musician wife Nicola Bolton in both that and Tears Of A Clown. Once pantomime is over, he's heading back to their London home to await the birth of their child in February.

l Babes In The Wood: Harrogate Theatre until January 12.

Tickets: Harrogate (01423) 502116.